Hello Herich family, I'm Joshua. Before I start, I'd like to thank you all for putting this scholarship out there. It can be difficult attempting to finance college, especially within the last two decades. I'd also like to express my sympathy for your loss. While I know little about Ryan, your description makes me believe he'd be quite interesting to talk to. (especially since our interests seem to align so well) Regardless, since this is a scholarship application, I should probably start answering the prompt. As said, I'm Joshua Barker, a 17-year-old ambitious high school senior with a love for all things historical, political, military, or generally challenging. Therefore, it's quite obvious I'm already excited for college which I'll be attending in mere months. Entering with the goal of triple majoring in Public Relations, Economics, and Political Science, I can already see my work will be cut out for me. However, I'm quite fine with such a workload because I believe it will help me reach my dream. That dream is, to become a state senator or representative so I can advocate for and protect, liberty, justice, and life. To put it simply, I want to become a politician... which on paper, makes no sense. Politicians the bad side of many jokes and are commonly seen as corrupt, self-serving, evil, or just plain stupid individuals. (All things which I don't believe myself to be) However, when responsible, a politician can have tremendous power in bringing hope, change, and safety to a society. I learned the truth of this lesson a long time ago when I first developed my love for history in the 7th grade. During my second year in middle school, I began to learn about history through the lenses of strategy games, books, and YouTube. One such instance was when I first discovered a new YouTube channel called World War Two. Presented by Indy Neidell and Spartacus Olsen, this documentary channel would cover the history of the Second World War week by week, not letting a single event be forgotten, or single story untold. Their goal of spreading history and the stories of its people would proceed to change my life forever. Releasing on a week-by-week basis, this series threw me into a unique perspective by learning from the world's worst collective history in real time. With emotions that I can't put into words, I would learn of the systems of Nazi terror, their systematic usage of hate, the Soviet Purges, the Katyn and Babi Yar Massacres, the Liquidation of the Warsaw Ghetto, the Implementation of the Final Solution, and so much more. The list is still growing for me, the series hasn't even finished yet, and my own research is still years later incomplete. But why is this important to me, or important to anyone? It's important because there is a lesson to be learned from the horror. Behind nearly every single event in human history, there is a person. Someone who was born, grew up through childhood, worked a job, had a family, experienced love, and wasn't all too different from you. Yet almost every single ruthless or evil event in history can be tied back to a person just like that. Just like me. Just like you. History taught me the importance of understanding our collective history and the costs that come with ignoring evil. History taught me how just one person can change the lives of millions if not billions. History taught me I can achieve something. Now I want to try, and maybe this scholarship will help.